AT&T disconnects its 43 South Bend operators

Company says need declining for directory assistance.

Company says need declining for directory assistance.

December 23, 2005|ED RONCO Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- AT&T Inc., formerly SBC Communications, is cutting all of its operator positions here by March 16, a company spokesman said Wednesday. The reductions will affect 43 employees at the South Bend office, 307 S. Main St. The company also is eliminating more than 300 additional operator jobs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio during the first or second quarter of the year, AT&T spokesman David Saltz said. The operators answer calls for directory assistance. That service has been on a continual decline, Saltz said. The company has been losing customers. Since the end of 2003, SBC has lost 163,000 lines in Indiana alone. SBC, which acquired AT&T earlier this year but decided to adopt the name of its former rival, has been cutting jobs since 2000, and making no secret of it, talking openly about the changes during quarterly public conference calls on the health of the company, Saltz said. "We're working with the union to minimize the impact that these reductions will have on affected employees," he said. Some possible options include offering retirements or transferring workers to other facilities. But that still could leave some workers out of a job, said Ed Bonczynski, president of Communications Workers of America Local 4802, whose entire membership is composed of the 43 operators. To qualify for other jobs in the company, there are "certain hoops we have to jump through," Bonczynski said, including tests to qualify for new positions. "Right now, there's not many jobs around," he said.The average hourly wage for a telephone operator was about $13.65 in May 2004, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Saltz said severance policies and the processes to change jobs are spelled out in collective bargaining agreements reached between the union and the company. In the 1980s, there were more than 300 operators in the South Bend office, said Bonczynski, an 18-year veteran of the company. There are other workers at the South Main Street location besides the 43 operators, and AT&T said the building will remain open. Saltz, of AT&T, would not say how many people are employed at the site, for competitive reasons. Bonczynski, who is one of the workers affected by the cuts, said the mood in his office is pretty somber, especially right before the holidays. "I guess we figured it was probably going to happen eventually with our smaller numbers," he said. "That still doesn't take the 'ouch' away." Staff writer Ed Ronco: eronco@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6467